Chapter 268 - 267: Dongba Scroll

Chapter 268: Chapter 267: Dongba Scroll

The early morning sun shone through the inn’s carved wooden windows, casting dappled patterns of light and shadow on the floor.

Zhu Ge opened his eyes, feeling invigorated after a full night of cultivation.

Within his body, the four forces of Literary Energy, Blood Qi, Witch Power, and Spiritual Power each flowed along their own paths without interfering with one another.

He got up and pushed open the window. The morning air of Lijiang City rushed in. The flagstone streets were already bustling with pedestrians: porters with shoulder poles, traveling merchants, peasant women with bamboo baskets on their backs, and a few elders in Naxi Race attire sunning themselves by the roadside.

"Master! Master! Hurry downstairs!" Liu Jianjian’s voice, filled with undisguised excitement, drifted up from below. "It’s market day! There’s so much fun stuff!"

Zhu Ge was about to refuse, but then True Monarch Minmian spoke up.

"Zhu Ge, all things in this world are a form of cultivation!" The words, thick with sleepiness, came from True Monarch Minmian’s room.

’He’s right. There’s no rush. The Confucian Dao requires one to see and learn much anyway...’ Zhu Ge smiled, washed up, and went downstairs.

In the inn’s main hall, Liu Jianjian had already devoured three steamers of buns and two bowls of congee. She was now waiting for him with eager eyes.

Zhu Sisi was perched on her shoulder, chewing on a mulberry leaf with a placid expression.

True Monarch Minmian was still lazing in bed, refusing to get up, and Mazhu had gone out to amuse himself.

So, Zhu Ge left the inn with Liu Jianjian and Zhu Sisi.

The streets of Lijiang City were even more quaint than those of Jianshui City in Red River Prefecture. The flagstones had been worn smooth as mirrors by time. On both sides stood wooden buildings with red lanterns and wind chimes hanging from their eaves.

A morning breeze swept through, and the wind chimes tinkled crisply.

The streets were already lined with stalls selling medicinal herbs, bolts of cloth, silverware, and calligraphy paintings—a dazzling array of goods.

"Master, look at this!" Liu Jianjian crouched before a stall, holding a silver bracelet with several small bells that made a pleasant sound when shaken.

"If you like it, buy it." Zhu Ge took out a few copper coins from his straw bowl and handed them to the stall owner.

Liu Jianjian happily fastened the bracelet onto her wrist and gave it a shake, the little bells jingling.

Her eyes lit up, and she ran off to another stall.

Zhu Ge followed her at a leisurely pace, his gaze sweeping over the stalls.

He wasn’t here to buy souvenirs. He wanted to see if this small border city had any Spiritual Objects or Cultivation Techniques worth acquiring.

Although Hongmi Immortal’s Self Realm contained many fine things, most were specialties of Red River Prefecture.

Lijiang City was located in the northern part of Yunjiang, close to Shujiang, so its products should be different.

After passing a few stalls, Zhu Ge stopped in front of one selling medicinal herbs.

The stall displayed several dried herbs with faint Spiritual Qi and low grades, but a purple Reishi Mushroom caught his eye.

The Reishi Mushroom wasn’t large, only about the size of a palm, and was entirely purple with a faintly glowing edge.

"Proprietor, how much for this Reishi Mushroom?" Zhu Ge asked.

The stall owner, an old man with a wrinkled face, glanced up at him and held up three fingers. "Three gold coins."

"Too expensive." Zhu Ge shook his head. "A low-grade Spirit Level Reishi Mushroom is worth one gold coin at most."

The old man grinned, revealing a few yellowed teeth. "You have a good eye, Young Master, but..."

"Although this Reishi Mushroom isn’t Spirit Level, it grew on Yulong Snow Mountain and has been touched by a trace of the mountain’s Spiritual Qi."

"When used in medicine, its effects are thirty percent better than an ordinary Reishi Mushroom. Three gold coins is not expensive."

"Hmm..." Zhu Ge pondered for a moment, then took out two gold coins and offered them to the old man. "Two. Take it or leave it."

The old man hesitated for a second before taking the gold coins and wrapping up the Reishi Mushroom for Zhu Ge. "The Young Master knows his business."

Zhu Ge took the Reishi Mushroom and tucked it into his sleeve.

The item’s grade wasn’t high, but its rarity made up for it.

When he got to Shengjing, he could find a Pill Master to refine it into a medicinal pill for Liu Jianjian or Zhu Sisi to take. It would improve their Cultivation.

Just then, a clamor rose up ahead.

"How much is this painting?"

"Fifty silver coins."

"Fifty silver coins? That’s robbery!"

"This is a genuine Dongba Ancient Painting, the only one of its kind in Lijiang City! Take it or leave it!"

Zhu Ge followed the sound and saw a crowd gathered around a stall selling calligraphy and paintings.

The stall owner was a lanky man in his thirties with a goatee. Dressed in a long green robe, he looked like a down-on-his-luck scholar.

Several pieces of calligraphy and paintings hung at his stall: landscapes, figures, and talismans written in the Dongba script.

One painting was particularly eye-catching. It depicted a White Tiger standing atop a snowy mountain, roaring at the sky.

The brushwork was bold, the ink tones perfectly balanced, vividly capturing the tiger’s ferocity and the mountain’s stark coldness.

"I’ll take this painting."

A young voice, leaving no room for argument, cut through the crowd.

Zhu Ge looked over. The speaker was a young man in his early twenties, dressed in a brocade robe with a white jade pendant at his waist, followed by two attendants.

The young man had a fair complexion and a hint of arrogance between his brows. He was clearly the scion of a wealthy family.

The stall owner’s eyes lit up. He quickly took down the painting and offered it to the young man with both hands. "An excellent eye, Young Master! This ’Snowy Mountain Tiger’s Roar’ took me three months to paint. I used the ancient Dongba method, and the ink was mixed with Spiritual Spring Water from the snow mountain..."

"Alright, enough nonsense." The young man interrupted him impatiently, took a single gold coin from his sleeve, and tossed it to the owner. "Keep the change."

The owner caught the gold coin, his face beaming, and bowed repeatedly. "Thank you, Young Master! Thank you, Young Master!"

Just as the young man was about to take the painting, a wizened voice suddenly spoke from the side.

"Hold on."

The crowd turned to the sound and saw a white-haired old man stepping out from their midst.

The old man wore a gray robe and held a bamboo staff. His face was gaunt, but his gaze was as sharp as a torch.

There was no fluctuation of Spiritual Power from his body, yet he possessed an imposing aura that made the people around him part a path for him instinctively.

"This old one saw this painting first." The old man walked to the stall and looked at the ’Snowy Mountain Tiger’s Roar’. "I merely went back to get my money, and by the time I returned, you had bought it."

The young man frowned and sized up the old man. "You? Can you afford fifty silver coins?"

The old man took a gold coin from his sleeve and placed it on the stall. "This old one can afford it."

The young man’s expression darkened. "I’ve already paid. The painting is mine."

"This old one saw it first," the old man said calmly.

The two argued back and forth as the crowd of onlookers grew.

The stall owner was caught in the middle, in a difficult position, not knowing who to give the painting to.

Zhu Ge stood in the crowd, looking at the painting, and felt a slight stirring in his heart.

The White Tiger in the painting bore a spiritual resemblance—not a physical one, but a spiritual one—to the Tide Level Rice he had seen in his Self Realm.

That feeling of "potential," though very faint, was definitely there.

’This is no ordinary painting,’ Zhu Ge thought to himself. ’Whoever painted this has at least touched the threshold of "potential."’

He looked at the goateed stall owner, and a plan began to form in his mind.

"Gentlemen." Zhu Ge stepped out from the crowd and cupped his fist. "I have a suggestion, if I may be so bold."

The young man and the old man both turned to look at him.